Karl Amoussou wanted to make a statement and did just that in the opening-round of Bellator’s season-six welterweight tournament.

The Frenchman sliced through season-five tournament vet Chris Lozano, cinching a first-round submission to advance to the semifinals.

Amoussou joined Bryan Baker, David Rickels and Ben Saunders in the winner’s circle on Friday at Bellator 63, which took place at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. The main card aired live on MTV2 following prelims on Spike.com.

Amoussou had riled Lozano up prior to the fight by promising to make the Bellator vet his punching bag, and the two nearly clashed in the staredown prior to the opening bell.

But when the bout got underway, it was Lozano who circled cautiously, and the audience quickly voiced its displeasure.

After an extended feeling-out period, Amoussou drew blood with a high kick that slammed into Lozano’s head. Lozano caught it and took the fight to the mat, but he was quickly reversed and flattened out.

Amoussou (14-4-2 MMA, 2-1 BFC) secured a rear-naked choke, and in a flash, the fight was over at the 2:05 mark of the first.

“My message: I’m not here to play, guys,” he said afterward. “Now, you just saw the next tournament champion, OK? I’m not here to beat the guys; I’m here to destroy them. I wanted to make a statement – this is what I’ve done. OK? The French guy’s going to be the new tournament champion!”

The French guy improves his current win streak to two while Lozano (9-3 MMA, 2-3 BFC) drops to 0-2 in his most recent Bellator outings after a knockout loss to Douglas Lima in the season-five semifinals.

Baker outworks a listless Pereira

Bryan Baker may very well have punched his ticket to the semifinals in the final 45 seconds of his opening-round fight with Carlos Pereira.

Truth be told, neither fighter put their all into finishing the fight, and so judges were forced to rule on the slimmest of margins.

Two found that Baker won two of three rounds while one saw it for Pereira by the same score. But while Baker could be reasonably be excused for a somewhat listless performance due to a 20-pound weight cut he endured fighting for the first time at welterweight, Pereira had no such pardon.

From the get-go, the Brazilian was clearly the more relaxed and more devastating striker. And though he managed to punish Baker’s legs and reverse almost every takedown, he largely sat passively as the Baker racked up points being busier.

Pereira’s best moments came when he countered an advancing Baker with punches. One uppercut briefly stunned the Bellator veteran in the second frame. But it was not followed up, and the fight lurched forward as the audience booed.

Baker, who at times resembled UFC vet Keith Jardine with his jerky movement and unpredictable strikes, kept pace with Pereira’s leg kicks but couldn’t dump his opponent to the mat. But when the action stalled against the cage, forcing the referee to restart the action with less than a minute to go, he capitalized.

Pumping out jabs and leg kicks, he charged forward with 15 seconds on the clock and nabbed a takedown before easily transitioning to the crucifix position. Hammering away with strikes, he ended the fight on an exclamation point.

“Sorry everybody, I’m still learning this weight cut,” Baker said after his split decision was announced. “I promise to get better.”

Pereira (33-10-1 MMA, 0-1 BFC), a Nova Uniao product, is now 4-2-1 in the past two years and sees his Bellator debut go south.
Rickels rides roughshod over Smith

David “The Caveman” Rickels put in a short night’s work against Jordan Smith, knocking out the short-notice tournament replacement.

The two traded kicks in an initial exchange before Rickels sent landed a stiff right that sent Smith backward. Piston-like right hands followed as Smith toppled over, and referee Dan Mirgliotta stopped at the 0:22 mark of the opening frame.

Smith protested the call, but his stiff legs justified the wave-off.

“Lemme just soak in his moment real quick,” Rickels said afterward. “That was amazing, man. Bellator, man. So easy a caveman could to it.

“I clipped him, and I saw he was hurt. I always try to finish. Soon as I hit him hard, I knew he was going down. A couple quick uppercuts after that, and it was good night.”

The season-five veteran cruised to a unanimous decision with scores of 30-26, and 30-27 twice in the first opening-round fight of the season-six welterweight tournament.

“He was tough as hell,” Saunders said afterward. “I gave him respect after the fight, for sure. I’m pretty sure I closed his left eye shut, and he didn’t care, man.”

Indeed, Amaya thought nothing of sizable disadvantages in height and reach and charged Saunders from the opening bell after a head kick nearly removed his.

From the first round, Amaya put all of his energy into taking the fight to the ground but had little luck hoisting Saunders’ bulk against the cage. Saunders, on the other hand, had no trouble taking things to the mat, where he defined the term “active guard” by threatening with armbars, omaplatas and triangles.

Amaya barely escaped the attempts. Nonetheless, he charged ahead in the second round with a flurry of punches that got Saunders’ attention. Again, the UFC vet took dominant position but lost it going for submissions. Amaya spent the rest of the round on top, but did little damage.

The third frame saw Amaya again punch in and get bowled over in kind. Still banking on the submission finish, Saunders’ mounted triangle failed and Amaya was able to take his back. For a brief moment, Saunders was mounted and in trouble as Amaya threw a flurry of punches. But he would again reverse and go from the mount to back mount, where the fight ended.

Saunders (13-4-2 MMA, 4-1 BFC) not only advances to the semifinals of the tournament but reverses a knockout loss to season-five champ Douglas Lima that snapped a four-fight win streak.

“It was definitely good to get it out of the way,” Saunders said. “But above all, I wanted to make this show start out proper.”

Amaya (9-1 MMA, 0-1 BFC), meanwhile, suffers the first loss of his professional career.

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